Learning Manners
by a Hermione without her Severus
Summary: What happened after Severus and Draco escaped at the end of HBP? Are things quite what they seem to Harry when Dumbledore died? Who will help the two on the run? And what does Romance have to do with it? Starts HGDM. Rated M for language and violence.


DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize. That's all J.K. Rowling's masterpiece. Oh how I wish I could borrow Severus on a long-term basis, though. Oh the fun we could have, right Sev? _Please no. Save me. _Oh hush.

"_Harry flew across the entrance hall and out into the dark grounds: He could just make out three figures racing across the lawn, heading for the gates beyond which they could Disapparate—by the looks of them, the huge blond Death Eater and, some way ahead of him, Snape and Malfoy… _

_The cold night air ripped at Harry's lungs as he tore after them; he saw a flash of light in the distance that momentarily silhouetted his quarry. He did not know what it was but continued to run, not yet near enough to get a good aim with a curse—_

_Another flash, shouts, retaliatory jets of light, and Harry understood: Hagrid had emerged from his cabin and was trying to stop the Death Eaters escaping, and though every breath seemed to shred his lungs and the stitch in his chest was like fire, Harry sped up as and unbidden voice in his head said: _not Hagrid…not Hagrid too…

_Something caught Harry hard in the small of the back and he fell forward, his face smacking the ground, blood pouring out of both nostrils: He knew, even as he rolled over, his wand ready, that the brother and sister he had overtaken using his shortcut were closing behind him… _

"Impedimenta!_" he yelled as he rolled over again, crouching close to the dark ground, and miraculously his jinx hit one of them, who stumbled and fell, tripping up the other; Harry leapt to his feet and sprinted after Snape. _

_And now he saw the vast outline of Hagrid, illuminated by the light of the crescent moon revealed suddenly behind clouds; the blond Death Eater was aiming curse after curse at the gamekeeper; but Hagrid's immense strength and the toughened skin he had inherited from his giantess mother seemed to be protecting him. Snape and Malfoy, however, were still running; they would soon be beyond the gates, able to Disapparate—Harry tore past Hagrid and his opponent, took aim at Snape's back, and yelled, "_Stupefy!_" _

_He missed; the jet of red light soared past Snape's head; Snape shouted, "_Run, Draco!_" and turned. Twenty yards apart, he and Harry looked at each other before raising their wands simultaneously._

"Cruc--_" _

_But Snape parried the curse, knocking Harry backward off his feet before he could complete it; Harry rolled over and scrambled back up again as the huge Death Eater behind him yelled, "Incendio" Harry heard an explosive bang and a dancing orange light spilled over all of them: Hagrid's house was on fire._

"_Fang's in there, yer evil—" Hagrid bellowed._

"Cruc--" _yelled Harry for the second time, aiming for the figure ahead illuminated in the dancing firelight, but Snape blocked the spell again. Harry could see him sneering._

"_No Unforgivable Curses from you, Potter!" he shouted over the rushing of the flames, Hagrid's yells, and the wild yelping of the trapped Fang. "You haven't got the nerve or the ability—"_

"Incarc--" _Harry roared, but Snape deflected the spell with and almost lazy flick of his arm._

"_Fight back!" Harry screamed at him. "Fight back, you cowardly—"_

"_Coward, did you call me, Potter?" shouted Snape. "Your father would never attack me unless it was four to one, what would you call him, I wonder?"_

"Stupe--"

"_Blocked again and again and again until you learn to keep your mouth shut and your mind closed, Potter!" sneered Snape, deflecting the curse once more. "Now _come!_" He shouted at the huge Death Eater behind Harry. "It is time to be gone, before the Ministry turns up—"_

"Impedi--"

_But before he could finish this jinx, excruciating pain hit Harry; he kneeled over in the grass. Someone was screaming, he would surely die of this agony, Snape was going to torture him to death or madness—_

"_No!" roared Snape's voice and the pain stopped as suddenly as it had started; Harry lay curled on the dark grass, clutching his wand and panting; somewhere overhead Snape was shouting, "Have you forgotten our orders? Potter belongs to the Dark Lord—we are to leave him! Go! Go!"_

_And Harry felt the ground shudder under his face as the brother and sister and the enormous Death Eater obeyed, running toward the gates. Harry uttered and inarticulate yell of rage: In that instant, he cared not whether he lived or died. Pushing himself to his feet again, he staggered blindly toward Snape, the man he now hated as much as he hated Voldemort himself—_

"Sectum--"

_Snape flicked his wand and the curse was repelled yet again; but Harry was mere feet away now and he could see Snape's face clearly at last: He was no longer sneering or jeering; the blazing flames showed a face full of rage. Mustering all his powers of concentration, Harry thought, _Levi—

"_No, Potter!" screamed Snape. There was a loud BANG and Harry was soaring backward, hitting the ground hard again, and this time his wand flew out of his hand. He could hear Hagrid yelling and Fang howling as Snape closed in and looked down on him where he lay, wandless and defenseless as Dumbledore had been. Snape's pale face, illuminated by the flaming cabin, was suffused with hatred as it had been before he had cursed Dumbledore. _

"_You dare use my own spells against me, Potter? It was I who invented them—I, the Half-Blood Prince! And you'd turn my inventions on me, like your filthy father, would you? I don't think so…_no!_"_

_Harry had dived for his wand; Snape shot a hex at it and it flew feet away into the darkness and out of sight. _

"_Kill me then," panted Harry, who felt no fear at all, but only rage and contempt. "Kill me like you killed him, you coward—"_

"_DON'T—" screamed Snape, and his face was suddenly demented, inhuman, as though he was in as much pain as the yelping, howling dog stuck in the burning house behind them—"CALL ME COWARD!"_

_And he slashed at the air: Harry felt a white-hot, whiplike something hit him across the face and was slammed backward into the ground. Spots of light burst in front of his eyes and for a moment all the breath seemed to have gone from his body, then he heard a rush of wings above him and something enormous obscured the razor-sharp claws slashed at him. As Harry raised himself into a sitting position, his head still swimming from its last contact with the ground, he saw Snape running as hard as he could, the enormous beast flapping behind him and screeching as Harry had never heard him screech—Harry struggled to his feet, looking around groggily for his wand, hoping to give chase again, but even as his fingers fumbled in the grass, discarding twigs, he knew it would be too late, and sure enough, by the time he had located his wand, he turned only to see the hippogriff circling the gates. Snape had managed to Disapparate just beyond the school's boundaries._

Severus Apparated to the safe place that he and the other Death Eaters had agreed upon to meet at, once they had finished their business at Hogwarts. When he got there, Draco, Amycus, Alecto, and the large blond, he could never remember his name considering he rarely ever talked, were all there. He looked to Draco and they nodded at each other, it was now or never. He pointed his wand at the large blond while Draco pointed his at Amycus. Simultaneously they shouted, "_Stupefy!_" both targets fell to the ground and Severus and Draco pointed their wands at Alecto, who was in a defense position.

"I knew you weren't really on the side of the—" but she never finished her sentence. Draco carelessly waved his wand, saying "_Petrificus Totalus_".

"We are not playing around, Draco, but now we have to get these three to the Ministry without getting caught ourselves. Do you have the brooms?" Severus asked. Draco walked over to a clump of bushes near by and pulled out two brooms.

"Good, good."

"_Incarcerous_" and he bound Amycus and Alecto together, attached them to the front of his broom and mounted it. Then he stopped, turned in his seat on the broomstick, pointed his wand at Alecto, and said, "_Obliviate!_" and stunned her before she could figure out where, and with who she was. He turned and again silently nodded at Draco who had already attached the large blond Death Eater to the front of his broom, and they took off into the sky for the long trip to London.

Once they had arrived in a dark alley, just a few blocks from the Ministry's visitor entrance, they applied glamour's to themselves and disillusionment charms and levitation charms on the three Death Eaters. They tried to walk normally, but they both felt as if everyone was staring at them. Severus had to place a claming hand on Draco's bicep at least twice on the walk through the streets because he was so fidget-y.

Finally, they arrived at the telephone booth. Severus and Draco then levitated the three Death Eaters inside, and stepped in behind them. Severus reached around the disillusioned bodies and pressed the correct numbers to admit them to the Ministry. Once inside they quietly walked to the elevators and pushed the down button to summon the elevator car. When it arrived, they rode it down to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, stepped out and went to find an empty Auror office; all the while discreetly levitating the disillusioned Death Eaters behind them.

"Hey, erm, Uncle! I found one!" Draco whispered. Severus turned quickly, and stalked over to where Draco was standing. Severus snorted when he looked at the nameplate on the desk inside.

"How fitting, it's Kingsley's office. Alright, we'll put them in here." Severus walked inside and set Amycus and Alecto down in two chairs along the wall after separating them. Draco glanced around nervously and walked in behind Severus, copying his motions, setting down the third Death Eater in another chair. Severus grabbed a piece of parchment off of Kingsley's desk and charmed the quill to write his thoughts in another handwriting than his own; sure that Kingsley Shaklebolt out of all the dunderheads at the Ministry would be able to recognize his handwriting.

Looking up and the clock above the door, he motioned to Draco that they should leave, before sweeping out the door and down the hallway they came, in a very Professor Snape-ish manner, minus the billowing cloak tough. Or at least that's what Draco thought as he followed at a somewhat slower pace, it had been a long night; pretending to be someone you are not was quite a bit harder than he had thought it would be, he had no idea how Severus had done it all these years, especially when in the Dark Lord's presence. He grimaced at the thought of what the Dark Lord could and would have done if he had ever found out about Severus betraying him. He would have been tortured and killed.

Once they reached the Atrium, Draco jogged to catch up to Severus' fast pace out of the elevator.

"Where are we going now?" Severus glanced down at him, his look clearly saying, 'Be quiet, and wait until we get outside.' As they reached the surface, they glanced around and headed off in a neutral direction, towards a normally busy shopping district. It wouldn't be busy for a good couple of hours; which was perfect, considering they really didn't want to be seen. They took off their glamour's as they walked down the empty sidewalks.

Draco glanced at Severus after they had put at least a half mile between them and the Ministry and asked again,

"Where are we going now?" Severus glanced at another dark clothing store window as they passed.

"We're going to the safe house Dumbledore has for us, and once there we are going to wait for whoever figures out Dumbledore's trail to come find us. Until then, we're going to finish training you, since you're going to miss your seventh year." He said as he turned into a deserted alleyway. He grabbed an empty food container out of the nearest rubbish bin, pointed his wand at it and whispered something Draco couldn't hear. The container glowed blue for half a second, and then nothing. 'He turned it into a Portkey!' Draco thought. Severus confirmed Draco's thoughts when he turned to Draco and held out the container saying,

"Grab on, we have to get there before dawn." Draco grabbed an edge of the newly made Portkey and they both disappeared, mere seconds before the old bum in a dark corner woke up to face another day on the streets.

They appeared in a lush green field, somewhere west of Crumlin, Ireland, near the shores of Loch Neagh. Draco turned to where Severus was looking at a rather larger cottage than Draco was expecting, with a waist high, white picket fence, running around the outside of a small flower garden. They walked up the curved, grey stone path leading to the front door, right through the center of the flower garden. The inside looked as much like a normal Muggle cottage, at first glance as the outside did. They hung their cloaks in the entrance hall and headed toward the normal-looking living room, it had two large black leather sofas put at angles in front a massive stone fireplace, with matching chairs set to the sides, with reading lamps set on tables in between. The mantle, and several small tables set about were covered with knickknacks and small items, looking very similar to Dumbledore's old office. Severus went to light a small fire in the grate with the wood set aside in a bin on the heart as Draco turned to investigate the rest of the house. The living room was opened into the dining room, which had a door in the back far corner that led to the kitchen, as Draco soon found out. The kitchen led to a small sitting room that contained the back door. Draco had entered the kitchen intent on seeing what was off the other side of the entrance hall when he met Severus in the kitchen.

"I'm heading to the other side of the house, want to come?" Draco said.

"No need, its just bedrooms, two of which mysteriously have all of our clothes in them already. Why don't we check out the upstairs?" Severus said, waving his arm in the direction of the door leading to the dining room. Draco lead the way up the stairs, where they were met with four more bedrooms, decorated like most guest rooms, with colorful pastels and matching flowery bedspreads. Behind them were three, large rooms, only one with a door off the hallway, and the other two only accessible through one of the other rooms. The first room was set up like a dueling classroom, with the obstacles and the far wall had short bookshelves filled with books on dueling. The next was set up with a long workbench running down the center, several cauldrons set on top, with bases setting them above the table, allowing a flame to be set underneath. The walls were covered with cabinets, some holding potion texts, others ingredients, but the entire room was so well organized and so fully stocked, that even Severus' jaw dropped just a little. They continued on to the next room the find the walls covered in floor to ceiling bookshelves filled with hundreds of books on the Dark Arts and Defense Against them. Severus strode to the closest shelf and examined the books on the shelves, running his fingers over them, as if reacquainting himself with them. He shook his head and muttered something along the lines of 'barmy old man'. He turned to Draco,

"Come, we'll start your training later, right now, we need to rest." Said in a voice that expressed how true that statement was. As they were walking down the stairs, Draco voiced a question that had been bothering him since they had left London,

"Who do you think will find Dumbledore's trail?" Severus stopped and turned in the doorway of his room and sighed,

"The only people I can think of at Hogwarts that could possibly figure out the clues Dumbledore left are Minerva and Hermione Granger." Severus said dejectedly, "And personally, I think we're better off with Granger than anyone else on the side of the Light." Draco nodded his head and headed further down the hallway until he found his room at the end of the hallway. He fell onto the bed, barely even pulling back the covers, whispering,

"Please hurry Granger." Into his pillow as he fell into an exhausted sleep just as the sun started filtering fully into the bedroom windows.

AN: I know it's weird, but it starts everything off with a bang. I'm looking for a beta, so if you like the sound of the story so far, and want to help, please contact me. Reviews appreciated. Thanks for reading.

Herm.


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